Hold The Cheese Pizza

(NC)—A tasty crust and fresh toppings, plus a little guidance, are all you need to make winning pizzas, say food enthusiasts. To get all three, take a look at www.pizzayeast.ca where you’ll quickly find scores of recipes as well as helpful tips and tricks, especially for the crust.

No cheese? No problem. This pizza is high in flavour yet lower in fat than most recipes. It’s packed with goodness too, combining a high quality olive oil blend with mushrooms, red onion, green bell pepper, fresh garlic, spinach, artichokes, black olives, green olives—and a savoury tomato sauce:

Prep Time: 15 minutes
Bake Time: 12 to 15 minutes
Number Of Servings: 1 (12-inch/30-cm) pizza

Ingredients:

Crust:

1-3/4 to 2-1/4 cups all-purpose flour
2-1/4 teaspoons Fleischmann’s Pizza Yeast
1-1/2 teaspoons sugar
3/4 teaspoon salt
2/3 cup very warm water (120º-130ºF/50º-55ºC)*
3 tablespoons Mazola RightBlend (canola and olive oil blend)

Toppings:

2 tablespoons Mazola RightBlend (canola and olive oil blend)
1/2 cup sliced mushrooms
1/2 medium red onion, sliced in thin rings
1/2 medium green bell pepper, chopped
1/2 medium red bell pepper, chopped
3 cloves fresh garlic, crushed or minced
1 cup chunky pizza sauce
1 cup fresh spinach, chopped or torn
1/2 cup chopped, canned artichokes
1/4 cup sliced black olives
1/4 cup pimento stuffed green olives, sliced

Directions:

Preheat oven to 425°F/220°C.

Combine 1 cup flour, undissolved yeast, sugar and salt in a large bowl. Add very warm water and oil; mix until well blended, about 1 minute. Gradually add enough remaining flour to make a soft dough. Dough should form a ball and will be slightly sticky. Knead** on a floured surface, adding additional flour if necessary, until smooth and elastic, about 4 minutes.

Pat dough with floured hands to fill greased pizza pan or baking sheet. OR roll dough on a floured counter to 12-inch/30cm circle; place in greased pizza pan or baking sheet. Form a rim by pinching the edge of the dough. 

Heat oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Add mushrooms, onions, bell peppers and garlic. Cook and stir until vegetables are tender. Remove from heat.

Spread pizza sauce over crust. Top with spinach, artichokes and olives. Spoon warm vegetables over all.

Bake on lowest oven rack for 12 to 15 minutes, until crust is browned. 

*If you don’t have a thermometer, water should feel very warm to the touch.

**To knead the dough, add just enough flour to the dough and your hands to keep the dough from sticking. Flatten dough and fold it toward you. Using the heels of your hands, push the dough away with a rolling motion. Rotate dough a quarter turn and repeat the “fold, push and turn” steps. Keep kneading dough until it is smooth and elastic. Use a little more flour if dough becomes too sticky, always working the flour into the ball of dough.

Source: www.newscanada.com